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Consumer Q's - September 28, 2006

CONSUMER Q’s
Prepared by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Office of Public Affairs
Tommy Irvin, Commissioner
Call Consumer Q’s Hotline at 1-800-282-5852

Consumer Alert/Product Recall:  Playskool Voluntarily Recalls Toy Tool Benches after the Death of Two Toddlers

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Playskool, of Pawtucket, R.I., is voluntarily recalling about 255,000 Team Talkin’ Tool Bench toys following the deaths of two young children.

Playskool received reports that a 19-month-old boy from Martinsburg, W.V., and a 2-year-old boy from League City, Texas, suffocated when oversized, plastic toy nails sold with the tool bench toys became forcefully lodged in their throats. Though the toy nails are not considered a small-part, and the toys are intended for children age 3 and older, Playskool is voluntarily conducting a recall as a precaution to prevent additional incidents.

The Team Talkin’ Tool Bench™ is a 20-inch tall plastic toy tool bench with an animated red toy saw, a yellow toy drill and a blue toy vice. The toy talks and makes various sound effects, including tool sounds. The product also includes a toy hammer, screwdriver, two 2¼-inch plastic screws, two 3-inch plastic nails and pieces to build a small toy plane. The red Playskool logo is on the front of the brown surface of the tool bench.

The toy was sold at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Target, KB Toys stores and various other stores nationwide from October 2005 through September 2006 for about $35.

Consumers should immediately take the two toy nails away from children and contact Playskool to get information on returning the nails for a $50 certificate for a Playskool (or its related companies’) product.

For additional information, call Playskool at (800) 509-9554 anytime, or go to their Web site at www.playskool.com

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Due to a storm, my electricity went out on Thursday evening.  I did not return home until Saturday.  Are the foods in my freezer still good?

If it's packed, the freezer will hold its temperature about 48 hours if you don't open it.  If it's half-full, it will hold its temperature only 24 hours.  The question of safety becomes a bigger issue the longer you're without power.

Rule of thumb

Perishable foods need to be thrown away if their temperature or the freezer temperature rises above 40 degrees. Different foods have specific telltale signs for deciding what to keep and what to discard:

Meat and poultry. If the freezer stays 40 degrees or lower, meat and poultry may be refrozen if it has no signs of spoilage, such as off odor and off color.  If they have any sign of spoilage or the freezer or food has reached more than 40 degrees, dispose of them.  If you don't have a thermometer, refreeze only the meat or poultry that still contains ice crystals.  If any foods in the refrigerator or freezer have come in contact with raw meat juices, throw them out, too.

Shellfish, vegetables and cooked foods. If the freezer maintains a temperature of 40 degrees or below or the food still has ice crystals, it may be refrozen.  Otherwise, like meat and poultry, discard it.  If any vegetables show signs of spoilage, throw them out, regardless of temperature.

Fruits. Fruits have the least amount of quality damage during thawing.  If they don't show any signs of spoilage, you may safely refreeze them.  However, the texture won't be the same after refreezing.  Thawed fruits may be used in cooking or making jams, jellies or preserves.

Ice cream. Throw it out if it's partially thawed.  Freezer or ice cream temperatures higher than 40 degrees could cause ice cream to be unsafe.

Creamed foods, puddings and cream pies. These are safe to refreeze only if the freezer has stayed 40 degrees or below.  If it rises above 40, discard them.  

Breads, doughnuts, cookies, cakes and nuts. These may be refrozen as long as they show no signs of mold growth. They typically refreeze better than most foods.

Shelf life. If you plan to use the food that has been thawing in the freezer while the power is out, make sure it has maintained a temperature of 40 degrees or below.  And use it within two to three days.  Treat it as if you had been deliberately thawing it in the refrigerator.

While refrozen food is safe to eat if you follow these tips, you may need to offset some degree of quality loss by using it sooner than you may have originally planned.  Remember this bit of food safety advice “when in doubt, throw it out!”

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I want to stock trout in my pond this winter.  Can you help me?

Trout production can be accomplished in most parts of Georgia, during the winter months if the water temperature and dissolved oxygen are measured routinely and maintained in the range of tolerance of the rainbow trout.  For more information on stocking trout please contact our office of consumer services or this document can be found on the website of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences/Aquaculture Unit at http://www.cpes.peachnet.edu/aquaculture/Species/troutstocking.htm.

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If you have questions or problems with products or services regulated by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, you may write the Office of Consumer Services, Room 224, 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Atlanta 30334 or call 404/656-3645 (Atlanta metro area) or 1-800-282-5852 (state wide).